Cuts coming to close the state deficit

[basinbear]

Another 22 million to be cut from higher Ed. Grow some balls and shutter a campus already

And what 800 pound gorilla do you think will get every dime saved by doing this??? Convention Now!!!

[Cajunrunner]

For the current problem, the "fiscal hawks" in the House who were lambasted in the media by the Jindal Administration were 100% correct this past session. The state over-budgeted. They've been over-budgeting the past 5 years because Jindal and the spineless legislators would like to declare at the end of each session they "saved" Higher Education from drastic cuts, then act all surprised mid-year when they have to make those very same cuts they "saved" everyone from.

Here's the thing. These cuts should have been in the budget passed last session. Sure, it would hurt. But spreading $22 million in cuts over 12 months is a hell of alot better for everyone involved then suddenly saying, "Hey, we need to cut $22 million, and now, you have only 6 months to do it"! Lots of legislators in our Acadiana delegation folded (were bought off) for the Administration during the budget debate 6 months ago. They sure got their local projects funded in Capitol Outlay, though!

Going forward: YES, we need to start merging/shutting down 4 year schools. We have too many in the state for our tax base to effectively support. Again, though, spineless politicians in Baton Rouge.

[VObserver]

We need to remove constitutional protection for all programs and cut everywhere, not just higher ed and health care.

[Turbine]

On the things that supposedly can't be touched . . .

I can't imagine the Constitution intended to protect all future whimsically enacted increases and line items that didn't even exist in 1974.

[Boomer]

Can somebody post a quick look at some of the Protected Areas that need to be slashed???

[BeauCajun]

Can somebody post a quick look at some of the Protected Areas that need to be slashed???

Real quick. Everything but higher ed & health care.

[cajun4life]

Can somebody post a quick look at some of the Protected Areas that need to be slashed???

Deleted

[Wing-over]

I go back to thinking that we have too many four year colleges in Louisiana for the population base. There needs to be some beginning discussions on long term planning for higher education in Louisiana as we obviously can't continue on the current track.

Who's up first to go down? Good luck with that. What a ____ poor state we live in.

[Boomer]

Who's up first to go down? Good luck with that. What a ____ poor state we live in.

-----SUNO----oh we tried to close that pillar of exceptional education!!!! Really if you can't get that done with a perfectly fine place across the street, what can be done???

[Cajunrunner]

Who's up first to go down? Good luck with that. What a ____ poor state we live in.

SUNO has a 6 or 8 percent six-year graduation rate. Absolute worst in the state. We can start there. Then we can look at geography. LSU-S, LA Tech, ULM, Grambling and Northwestern all within about an hour and half from each other. Grambling stays because of heritage/tradition, Tech stays because of size and success, and Northwestern stays because of how long they've been around. That leaves LSU-S and ULM. I would lean towards LSU-S being merged into Tech.

[Cajunrunner]

On the things that supposedly can't be touched . . .

I can't imagine the Constitution intended to protect all future whimsically enacted increases and line items that didn't even exist in 1974.

Thing that scares me about a Constitutional Convention...

Do we get real budget reforms, or does it become a politician/lobbyist field day? I could easily see the self-servants making term-limits go away. Term-limits isn't a cure-all, but it will hopefully help in keeping the career legislators from being in there 20+ years.

Does the Constitution then get changed to allow for income tax increases just by simple majority vote rather than the current 2/3's requirement?

[CajunSaint]

I'm sorry I voted for Him.

don't beat yourself up too much. he had you bamboozled like he did everyone who re-elected him. plus, consider the alternative we had. he's doing the same thing now to the sorry excuse for a national media, and i mean ALL media. i think, though, that once his record is closely scrutinized, he's a gone pecan from the national scene.